5 observations on UCLA after 50-0 loss to USC

The final score was shocking. But while watching Saturday's game unfold, if you've watched UCLA's entire 2011 season unfold, it was hardly so. The Bruins are who we thought they were.

Here are my five observations following their 50-0 loss at USC:

1. The Lame Duck

“Wow.” That was the first word Coach Rick Neuheisel uttered in his postgame news conference. The relentlessly optimistic Neuheisel sounded as somber as ever, perhaps seeing the writing on the Coliseum field. There has been increasing talk that he would be fired if UCLA lost to USC by any margin. There's no way he survives a 50-point massacre, the Bruins' fifth loss this season by at least 25 points.

Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said Neuheisel will coach the Pac-12 title game at Oregon and intimated he'll be gone after that. Besides refusing to commit to Neuheisel beyond the conference title game, the most ominous remark from Guerrero to our own Scott Reid was this: “This is a devastating game for us obviously. We expected to have an opportunity to get a signature win and it just didn't happen.”

Guerrero before the game said UCLA (cough ... Neuheisel ... cough) "should be ready" to earn that signature win. Instead, Neuheisel came away with his signature loss, as "50-0" will forever be etched into the rivalry. Throughout the game the pro-USC crowd chanted “one more year.” They were talking to quarterback Matt Barkley, not Neuheisel. I think.

2. Success is the root of all Bruins ruin

When the first ring of media entered UCLA's locker room after the game, one player immediately yelled, “We ain't got nothin' for ya.” They didn't for USC either. That became a mere formality last week once they trampled Colorado. The Bruins are now 1-5 following a victory, losing by an absurd average of 33.2 points. Several players talked about having to do some soul-searching following their latest meltdown, repeating a phrase they used after a humiliating loss at Utah. And Arizona. And Stanford. And Texas. They even said it after the season opener at Houston.

That mindset is fine in September (Texas), questionable in October (Arizona) and flummoxing in early November (Utah). It's preposterous after playing your hated rival in the regular season finale, when there's absolutely no excuse for not showing up. If the Bruins had any hope of beating Oregon next week, they had to at least compete with USC. They might as well apply for that bowl waiver now.

3. No thank you, Colorado

Success came early for UCLA on Thanksgiving weekend. Colorado supposedly did the Bruins a favor by beating Utah and guaranteeing their berth in the Pac-12 title game. That was the worst thing that could have happened to them for this game. One Bruin after another said the Buffaloes' victory Friday didn't mean anything. Their actions during the game spoke much louder than their words after it.

The Bruins didn't have to win Saturday and ultimately played that way. All week the players talked about their threefold motivation: win the Pac-12 South; beat USC for the first time in their career; play for their beleaguered coach. Since winning the division was their primary goal, losing that incentive unquestionably manifested.

After USC scored on the game's opening drive, UCLA moved the ball 79 yards to the USC 1. They were stopped on fourth-and-goal, much like the opening minutes against Stanford. And much like that game, one play was the straw that broke the Bruins' back. The Trojans went 98 yards on the ensuing drive, scoring in just five plays as Curtis McNeal broke free for a 73-yard touchdown. UCLA never came as close to scoring again.

“It would have been huge,” quarterback Kevin Prince said of converting the fourth-and-goal. “They went down and scored real quick. It would have been great to have a methodical drive and cap it off with a touchdown. Instead, we come out empty-handed and they go up 14-0. It would have helped a lot, in terms of the psyche with the team.”

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